Album Review

Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley is one of the most widely recognized major influences on hard rock six-stringers since the '70s, as such wide-ranging players as Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Skid Row's Snake Sabo, Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell have all worshipped at the alter of Ace during their formative years. With the never ending influx of tribute albums in the mid- to late '90s (and with Ace's former band already the subject of two tribute albums, Hard to Believe and Kiss My Ass), the Shrapnel label assembled a cast of metal musicians to pay tribute to Frehley in 1996, titled Spacewalk: A Tribute to Ace Frehley. Featured are fun readings of such Kiss/Ace nuggets as "Shock Me" by Gilby Clarke and "Parasite" by Tracii Guns, as well as tracks from Ace's 1978 solo album ("Rip It Out" by Scott Ian, "Snowblind" by Snake Sabo, "New York Groove" by Bruce Bouilett, and, perhaps the album's highlight, "Fractured Mirror" by Dimebag Darrell). Spacewalk: A Tribute to Ace Frehley proves once and for all what an important influence the Space Ace proved to be on a legion of up and coming guitarists.